Real Madrid
The mouthwatering numbers behind Saudi Arabia’s world-record deal for Vinicius Jr
Reports are rife that Saudi Arabia are preparing a world-record package to tempt Vinicius Jr from Madrid to the Middle East.

There are around 80,000,000,000 stars in the Milky Way Galaxy, 150,000,000,000 metres between the Earth and the Sun and our Solar System hurtles through the galaxy at 200,000 metres per second.
Be honest, you glossed over the numbers. That’s because they mean nothing to you: simply too huge for the human brain, an organised lump of fat, protein and carbohydrates that evolved to hunt animals on the African plains, we are not used to calculations that depart from our intimate little world of the everyday.
The same goes for money: I can lend you $10, you can spend $100 or buy a house for $250,000. You could even win $1,000,000. So when I say that Real Madrid, if reports are to be believed, are set to receive an offer from Saudi Arabia of $350 million for their star winger, Vinicius Jr, one’s eyes simply gloss over.
Saudi reportedly ready to break world record
Al-Ahli said to be most keen on the Brazilian, with the potential deal blowing the current world-record (Neymar to PSG, $222 million) out of the Solar System and past Voyager 1, off into deep space.
Vinicius Jr, whose current deal runs until 2027, is undoubtedly the figurehead of Real Madrid, the poster boy. But recent times have seen a slight shift in his perception, with some fans increasingly annoyed at his antics and attitude while other agree that Mbappé could - and should - do a better job on the left wing currently occupied by Vini. While the club have obviously backed both Vinicius and Mbappé (Carlo even recently going to lengths the point out that the Frenchman was the best central striker in the world), there certainly comes a point at which the Spanish club look at the money on the table and agree it’s simply out of this world.
The player himself was asked about such rumours in the aftermath of Real Madrid’s Champions League win over RB Salzburg: “My future? Real Madrid! I’m at 101 goals with my dream club. I came as a child and being able to enter the history of this club makes me the happiest person in the world.”
Real Madrid: the kings of... doing things at the right time
They said goodbye to Cristiano Ronaldo, Casemiro, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo - all of the old guard who won so much - all at the right time, and they were all happy. The only player of that side who perhaps went too early was Toni Kroos, and that was his decision, not Real Madrid’s.
They know how to do things in the corridors of the Bernabéu, and it’s certain that their decision would be pre-meditated and carefully considered until the final moment. The main point, at least for now, before anything has been confirmed, is this: the fact that Vini Jr to Saudi is even a possibility speaks more than any ‘latest update’ on how things are moving; the simple concept of the player leaving Real Madrid this summer is enough of cryptic message in itself.
Were he to move, Vini Jr would join former teammate Karim Benzema in Saudi Arabia as well as Real Madrid legend Cristiano Ronaldo. Saudi Arabia, it seems, continue to throw out space-age numbers that the rest of us mere mortals simply can’t comprehend.
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